Don Dio

Shiroten Performer

Posts : 187Gender : Join date : 2016-06-17

I often think of Scandal in the context of bands I grew up loving. One of them is KISS.For those too young to remember, know or even care, KISS were so popular in the 70’s that each member released a solo album on the same day. Financially it was a horrible marketing idea, but as a fan who got all four records, it was fun to hear what each member recorded separate from the others. The overall consensus of most fans at the time broke out like this:

Paul’s album sounded most like a KISS record.

Peter’s album sounded least like a KISS record.

Gene’s album was the most unusual in playing songs no one would have ever expected from him (ex. Disney’s “When You Wish Upon A Star”)

Ace’s album was the most rocking/metal (it also had the only hit song of the four)

I thought it would be fun to apply this to Scandal as a “what-if” scenario. What if Scandal were to simultaneously release solo albums, how would they compare? Here are the categories:

Most like Scandal (PAUL)

Least like Scandal (PETER)

Most surprising content (GENE)

Most rocking (ACE)

This is what I think we would get:

PAUL = Tomomi

PETER = Rina

GENE = Haruna

ACE = Mami

I doubt they would ever do this, but I’m curious what you all think of the concept and how it would turn out.

Star~world96®

Indie Artist

Posts : 454Gender : Join date : 2015-04-22

By solo albums, you mean by vocals solos only? Cuz each album could consist of members playing there own instruments with the help of other people on the other instruments. But honestly when I think of solo albums in band, I think of band break ups, so IDK how to feel about Scandal solo albums.

But if there were to, I think the category you put the girls in would be correct, we can say Rina solo songs are least Scandal sounding but very expirimental, I feel Mami can come up with some rocking tunes. I would honestly listening to a full Mami album^ω^

Qberto

Shiroten Performer

Posts : 127Gender : Join date : 2015-10-22

Don Dio, i think you are spot-on with your predictions. Rina pleasantly surprises me with the range of her musical tastes, from the grunge of Mudhoney to the British shoegazer bands to Taylor Swift. I wonder if she knew that one of the producers from Yellow was in a very popular band of that time, Ride.

Don Dio

Shiroten Performer

Posts : 187Gender : Join date : 2016-06-17

@Star~World96

I was thinking the girls would handle their own vocals and play whatever instrument they choose on their respective album. They would collaborate with other musicians to create whatever sound they envision for themselves as an individual artist. I do imagine Rina playing not only drums, but also piano and maybe some guitar since she plays a little already. I also figure Mami would play some of her own drum tracks, and Haruna would play more lead on her own album. That's one of the details I think will be surprising for fans. We already know she's a good rhythm guitarist, but she does occasionally handle dual lead lines with Mami, like on "Your Song," and she quite possibly may have some skills tucked away itching to come out.

My idea of them doing a solo album, in keeping with the theme of KISS, is that the band is still together. This would just be a fun project for them in-between Scandal's official studio albums and tours. There are lot of successful bands that take breaks from each other once and while so members can explore music outside of the establish sound of their band. Def Leppard's Joe Elliot, Phil Collin and Vivian Campbell all do their own side projects between their tours and albums. David Grohl seems to work more often on outside projects than Foo Fighter albums these days. All four members of The Who did the same thing in the seventies, as did Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman of The Rolling Stones. Heck, Funkadelic was originally George Clinton's side project from Parliament. We ended up with two great bands in the end, and then one massive band.

In the case of KISS, two of the members did eventually exit the band a couple years after the solo albums, but that was primarily because they couldn't stay sober and were no longer reliable. I doubt we will ever have that concern with Scandal. Of course, judging from what we saw in the HELLO WORLD documentary, Rina has some high expectations, and Mami may need to be less laid back on workdays. Rina may be the youngest member, but I can see her as a no-BS band leader like James Brown or Frank Zappa. Her solo album will probably be completed first.

You are right, solo albums do tend to lead to a band breaking up, but this usually happens when that band has been together for a while, and the members are sick of each other and don't get along. Fame and success, or lack of fame and success greatly affects a lot of talented groups. Again, I don't see this being a concern with Scandal, at least not for a very, very long time. At the 10 year mark they seem to very much like and respect one another. How I wish I could have said the same about The Police, Sex Pistols, Guns 'N Roses and countless of other great bands that never hit 10 years.

Anyway, so that was what was in my head for posing the solo album idea. Quite a long explanation, huh?